Who: One Republic with The Script and American Authors
When: June 6, 2014
Where: Lake Shore Amphitheater/ Mountain View, CA
With: Alex
Of Note: Are we old?
My friend Alex from work shot me a note asking if I wanted to go see amdlakdoa and adfjdoiadjf on June 6 (or at least that's what I saw - I was in an airport/hotel/something at the time). I checked my calendar, saw that I was in town and said yes. Later I found out the line up which: totally legit, right? After a post-work drive south and a burrito the size of my head, it was concert time.
First up was American Authors. They're having a moment, right? I wonder how many people just went through the same thought process I did which was, "Are these guys liars? Can every single day you hear this on the radio be the best day of your life? Wait! What if that's the point? Every day has the possibility to be the best day of your life!" Anyway, the highlights of the set were 'Luck', which has that bouncy rest-clapclap-clap beat I love and a great message of, "I am my own man; I make my own luck." Damn straight, guys! Plus, all that luck means everyday can be the best day every.... Speaking of, predictably, the ended with 'Best Day of My Life' to a suitably rowdy crowd. The part of it that I found particularly intriguing/enchanting was that the plinky part at the beginning was a banjo! I guess I never paid it much attention and was expecting keys of some sort. The third stand-out song was 'Trouble', a bouncy tale of a girl who was "trouble from the first kiss". It made me want to do a hoe-down dance.
It's worth noting here how intensely excited Alex was when she saw traditionally bluegrass stringed instruments. Banjos? Mandolins? Fiddles? She was super pumped about all of them. I feel like I need to get her to a Yonder Mountain String Band show stat, just to watch her head explode!
Up next was The Script. They're one of those bands who has more singles than I think they do; so much of the set was familiar. Plus, they were good showmen,telling jokes, doing bits... The lead singer, Danny, actually ran a lap around the stadium, picking up an Irish flag and wearing it as a cape. They called someone's ex-boyfriend and sang 'Nothing' to them (which, judging by YouTube is a pretty common part of the act). They also encouraged the audience to all drink - unless they were too young, in which case they shouldn't because then things get weird.
The crowd was way into 'Hall of Fame' but I can never get past the line 'King Kong banging on your chest'. That is an actual lyric. 'The Man Who Can't Be Moved' was predictably gorgeous. 'Breakeven' is one of those songs that has taken root in my person and can reliably make me sob like a child with a skinned knee. The lines, "What am I supposed to do/ When the best part of me was always you?/ What am I supposed to say/ When I'm all choked up that you're okay?" are some of the most gut-wrenchingly accurate portrayals of heart-break that are out there. Live it was every bit as poignant as you'd imagine. Luckily, I managed not to break down sobbing in public, though there may have been just a little bit of dust in eye there for a minute.
And then, after an aborted trip to the restroom, it was time for OneRepublic. Confession time: when they first came out, I was not a huge fan of OneRepublic. I thought 'Apologize' was not compelling enough to warrant the radio play it got and despite the beautiful string opening, 'Secrets' lost what small appeal it had when it played every three and a half minutes as part of the Pretty Little Liars teaser trailer. But then... something changed. I adored 'Feel Again', featuring it in 'Repeat Songs Of The Week' with the caption, "In fairness, I didn't know it was One Republic." 'Counting Stars' crept up on me in much the same way. I'm not sure what exactly has influenced the band's evolution but their most recent studio effort, 'Native', is just stellar. I've seen Tedder do his thing on The Voice and given the list of hits, there's no denying he's brilliant at producing but I questioned what to expect from a OneRepublic show. Short answer? It was awesome.
Let's discuss why. First, Tedder does this really cool thing where he conducts himself on stage like he's an orchestra conductor - loose arms, down beats on the one, beat with the right hand, and dynamics with the left. It wasn't overdone, but enough to be visually interesting and adds a layer of credibility to his musicianship. As a former band geek, I loved seeing the juxtaposition of that movement with the atmosphere of a stadium show.
Second, their cello player is a certified babe. I joked with Alex that this concert write up was going to be a thesis paper about the cellist. Perhaps the most interesting thing about him, however, is his name. I mean, how cool of a name is Brett Pretzel?! Wait, his name isn't Brett Pretzel? It's Brent Kutzle and Alex is just apparently deaf? That's less fun. Anyway, super talented, super easy on the eyes. Call me!
Third, there were some really cool moments in the show. Tedder name checked both VH1 Storytellers and Sugar Ray and then noted that the crowd was too young to understand either of those references. I, obviously, cracked up. During the line "I loved you with a fire red/ Now it's turning blue" in 'Apologize' the stage lights literally went from red to blue which delighted me to no end. 'Apologize' was also mashed up with Coldplay's 'Yellow' which was lovely.
According to my notes there was a "bitching pedal loop Spanish guitar solo". (Sometimes it's worth writing these just to go back through my hastily typed with one hand notes because they are usually at least a little hilarious.)
The story that surrounded 'Preacher' - about Tedder's actual grandfather was very sweet. The message of that song is great and I love the way the chorus soars over the verses with a move up the scale and up in dynamics.
The most charming story was around 'Something I Need'. Tedder said it was written for two reasons: 1- they've always wanted to write a song that could be a closing time song for a bar (Which, noble cause, dude. A good closing time song can make or break a night. Remind me to tell you all about 'Kiss From a Rose' someday.) and 2- the beginning of the song, waking up at 2am, seeing his wife, etc. was all true and that's when it came to him, "If I only die once, I want to die with you." At first glimmer, it seems a little morbid? But if you think about it, it's a lovely sentiment.
My other favorite song was 'I Lived' which is a much poppier, less weepy, less likely to be made into a motivational book 'I Hope You Dance'. Whatever, I love songs that have a strong clap-along propensity and songs that put out some sort of life-affirming message. You know what, I do hope when my time comes I can say, "I did it all."
The encore included 'What A Wonderful World' (gorgeous) and then went from zero to club banger in .2 seconds as they closed with a pretty baller remix style version of 'If I Lose Myself' - laser light show and confetti included.
OneRepublic, who knew?
When: June 6, 2014
Where: Lake Shore Amphitheater/ Mountain View, CA
With: Alex
Of Note: Are we old?
My friend Alex from work shot me a note asking if I wanted to go see amdlakdoa and adfjdoiadjf on June 6 (or at least that's what I saw - I was in an airport/hotel/something at the time). I checked my calendar, saw that I was in town and said yes. Later I found out the line up which: totally legit, right? After a post-work drive south and a burrito the size of my head, it was concert time.
First up was American Authors. They're having a moment, right? I wonder how many people just went through the same thought process I did which was, "Are these guys liars? Can every single day you hear this on the radio be the best day of your life? Wait! What if that's the point? Every day has the possibility to be the best day of your life!" Anyway, the highlights of the set were 'Luck', which has that bouncy rest-clapclap-clap beat I love and a great message of, "I am my own man; I make my own luck." Damn straight, guys! Plus, all that luck means everyday can be the best day every.... Speaking of, predictably, the ended with 'Best Day of My Life' to a suitably rowdy crowd. The part of it that I found particularly intriguing/enchanting was that the plinky part at the beginning was a banjo! I guess I never paid it much attention and was expecting keys of some sort. The third stand-out song was 'Trouble', a bouncy tale of a girl who was "trouble from the first kiss". It made me want to do a hoe-down dance.
It's worth noting here how intensely excited Alex was when she saw traditionally bluegrass stringed instruments. Banjos? Mandolins? Fiddles? She was super pumped about all of them. I feel like I need to get her to a Yonder Mountain String Band show stat, just to watch her head explode!
Up next was The Script. They're one of those bands who has more singles than I think they do; so much of the set was familiar. Plus, they were good showmen,telling jokes, doing bits... The lead singer, Danny, actually ran a lap around the stadium, picking up an Irish flag and wearing it as a cape. They called someone's ex-boyfriend and sang 'Nothing' to them (which, judging by YouTube is a pretty common part of the act). They also encouraged the audience to all drink - unless they were too young, in which case they shouldn't because then things get weird.
The crowd was way into 'Hall of Fame' but I can never get past the line 'King Kong banging on your chest'. That is an actual lyric. 'The Man Who Can't Be Moved' was predictably gorgeous. 'Breakeven' is one of those songs that has taken root in my person and can reliably make me sob like a child with a skinned knee. The lines, "What am I supposed to do/ When the best part of me was always you?/ What am I supposed to say/ When I'm all choked up that you're okay?" are some of the most gut-wrenchingly accurate portrayals of heart-break that are out there. Live it was every bit as poignant as you'd imagine. Luckily, I managed not to break down sobbing in public, though there may have been just a little bit of dust in eye there for a minute.
And then, after an aborted trip to the restroom, it was time for OneRepublic. Confession time: when they first came out, I was not a huge fan of OneRepublic. I thought 'Apologize' was not compelling enough to warrant the radio play it got and despite the beautiful string opening, 'Secrets' lost what small appeal it had when it played every three and a half minutes as part of the Pretty Little Liars teaser trailer. But then... something changed. I adored 'Feel Again', featuring it in 'Repeat Songs Of The Week' with the caption, "In fairness, I didn't know it was One Republic." 'Counting Stars' crept up on me in much the same way. I'm not sure what exactly has influenced the band's evolution but their most recent studio effort, 'Native', is just stellar. I've seen Tedder do his thing on The Voice and given the list of hits, there's no denying he's brilliant at producing but I questioned what to expect from a OneRepublic show. Short answer? It was awesome.
Let's discuss why. First, Tedder does this really cool thing where he conducts himself on stage like he's an orchestra conductor - loose arms, down beats on the one, beat with the right hand, and dynamics with the left. It wasn't overdone, but enough to be visually interesting and adds a layer of credibility to his musicianship. As a former band geek, I loved seeing the juxtaposition of that movement with the atmosphere of a stadium show.
Second, their cello player is a certified babe. I joked with Alex that this concert write up was going to be a thesis paper about the cellist. Perhaps the most interesting thing about him, however, is his name. I mean, how cool of a name is Brett Pretzel?! Wait, his name isn't Brett Pretzel? It's Brent Kutzle and Alex is just apparently deaf? That's less fun. Anyway, super talented, super easy on the eyes. Call me!
Third, there were some really cool moments in the show. Tedder name checked both VH1 Storytellers and Sugar Ray and then noted that the crowd was too young to understand either of those references. I, obviously, cracked up. During the line "I loved you with a fire red/ Now it's turning blue" in 'Apologize' the stage lights literally went from red to blue which delighted me to no end. 'Apologize' was also mashed up with Coldplay's 'Yellow' which was lovely.
According to my notes there was a "bitching pedal loop Spanish guitar solo". (Sometimes it's worth writing these just to go back through my hastily typed with one hand notes because they are usually at least a little hilarious.)
The story that surrounded 'Preacher' - about Tedder's actual grandfather was very sweet. The message of that song is great and I love the way the chorus soars over the verses with a move up the scale and up in dynamics.
The most charming story was around 'Something I Need'. Tedder said it was written for two reasons: 1- they've always wanted to write a song that could be a closing time song for a bar (Which, noble cause, dude. A good closing time song can make or break a night. Remind me to tell you all about 'Kiss From a Rose' someday.) and 2- the beginning of the song, waking up at 2am, seeing his wife, etc. was all true and that's when it came to him, "If I only die once, I want to die with you." At first glimmer, it seems a little morbid? But if you think about it, it's a lovely sentiment.
My other favorite song was 'I Lived' which is a much poppier, less weepy, less likely to be made into a motivational book 'I Hope You Dance'. Whatever, I love songs that have a strong clap-along propensity and songs that put out some sort of life-affirming message. You know what, I do hope when my time comes I can say, "I did it all."
The encore included 'What A Wonderful World' (gorgeous) and then went from zero to club banger in .2 seconds as they closed with a pretty baller remix style version of 'If I Lose Myself' - laser light show and confetti included.
OneRepublic, who knew?
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